Fire and Ice (7 page)

After at least ten minutes of raucous joking regarding Nate’s past, Annika conceded that she would move into the apartment in the morning.

Nate grinned at her. “I’d offer to take you there tonight, but I’m four hours past my ability to restrain myself being this close to my fiancé. I don’t want to embarrass you all with what I might do if I don’t get Erin alone with me in the next ten minutes.”

Sam jumped in. “Please, Nate. Spare us. Everyone except the lieutenant knows the danger we’re all in. I’ll see that Lieutenant Nilsson gets back to that shabby motel tonight.”

Ignoring the appealing look Annika gave her, Erin nestled against Nate’s chest. “That’s great, Sam. Annika, I will come and get you in the morning. We can take your things over to Nate’s apartment and get you settled. Then we can head back to my office and finish what we started today.”

~~~

Sam glanced over at Annika, wondering if he dared reach out for her hand. Never had the front seat of the Hummer seemed so long. It felt like there was ten feet between them, not two. But it wasn’t the physical distance that troubled him, it was the emotional chasm. It had been an unsettling night. He’d been ecstatic when he’d learned from Connor that Erin was bringing Annika to the dinner party. And at least in the beginning, it couldn’t have been better. How else to describe that gorgeous ass bent over in front of him and then if that wasn’t hot enough, she literally backed into his arms. Sweet. Or as the kids he worked with would say, “How sick was that?”

And damn, he’d remember for at least a couple of lifetimes the automobile game she’d played. Her knowledge and her easy teasing of Connor and Nate and even him was every guy’s wet dream. Inadvertently, she’d revealed that she was paying enough attention to him to know what kind of sunglasses he wore and was dead-on about his choice of automobiles. Even if it did make him sound a little like a pretentious prick.

But then something happened. And Sam saw that it was big enough to raise Annika’s guard higher than it had been before. And damn it was virtually unscalable then. It didn’t take much to see how upset she was. The tear tracks were evidence enough. His few attempts at conversation in the car had met with a soft shrug and silence. Unfortunately the damned motel was only five minutes’ drive time from Connor’s house and before he could decide if he should attempt to breach the walls one more time they were pulling up under the awning.

In the light of the flashing neon sign signifying that there were no vacancies, Sam saw the strain tightening the fine lines around her mouth and eyes. As he angled into the parking space along the fence, Annika reached in her purse and pulled out her room key. Sam wished he were audacious enough to yank open her door, scoop her up in his arms and show her she didn’t have to look so goddamned lonely.
And
show her how even a Motel 6 could be the scene of an unforgettable night. But bravado wasn’t the card he needed to play tonight. No. Restraint was.

As if to confirm his judgment, he’d barely turned off the ignition when she jumped out and was halfway across the parking lot five feet away from Room 146.

Sam got out and leaned against his car door, tucking his hands in his jacket pockets to look as unthreatening as possible.

Annika looked back over her shoulder. She hesitated for a brief moment meeting his gaze.

“Um… uh… thanks for the ride, Commander.”

He watched her fiddle with the door key then called out to her.

“Hey. You!”

She turned, looking surprised. A questioning frown traced her brow.

“It’s Sam.”

Her frown deepened.

“I… what?”

“My
name
is
Sam
.”

In the harsh flash of neon he saw her cheeks flush a soft shade of pink. Even from the distance he could see her throat constrict when she swallowed.

“Good night, Annika.”

He couldn’t hear what she said but he saw her lips curl slightly and thought he saw her mouth the words before she closed the door behind her.

“Good night, Sam.”

Chapter 8

“Sure you don’t want a toke, Officer? We got about the best ‘fry daddy’ you’re likely to suck past those juicy lips of yours. Course, if it’s something more ‘manly’ you wanna put your mouth around, we can arrange that too. Can’t we, Bobo?”

The grungy long-haired dude smirked at his buddy who chortled in response.

“Oh yeah, man. I got all kinds of ideas ‘bout what we could do with that sick mouth of hers. We can even arrange a little ‘gun play’ sugar, if you’re up for it. Nothin’ Mick and me’d like better. Tell you what sugar-lips. You show us your gun and we’ll show you ours.”

If it weren’t for the glassy-eyed hatred gleaming in their eyes, Annika would have laughed. But she knew these assholes and the gang beginning to crowd in around them weren’t above their threats. They were part of a destructive offshoot of the environmental movement that went after businesses they thought were hurting the environment. For the most part the groups were annoying but harmless. The worst were dangerous, classified by the FBI as “eco-terrorists.” Their goal was to destroy their targets by damaging their property. Fire was their weapon of choice.

From her research the small unkempt group camped outside the security fence bordering Lakeside Estates were no more than Environmental Liberation Front pretenders. She was convinced this ragtag bunch, as Corcoran had correctly labeled them, were more interested in getting high and terrorizing the neighbors than they were in doing real damage. But Annika didn’t underestimate them. She knew the damage their more dangerous cohorts could wreak. That knowledge was one of the primary reasons Connor and Nate had invited her in. Last year, she’d broken up a gang of dedicated eco-terrorists that were targeting a ski resort in Idaho. She’d put most of them behind bars on the more provable charges of drug dealing. The bust made her reputation in law enforcement circles. Regrettably, after the Idaho incident she was well known in more seamy circles as well.

Mick’s eyes flamed menacingly as he and Bobo closed in on either side of her. In the last couple of minutes the energy in the group had changed. Annika felt a warning flicker streak up her back. There were now more than a dozen tweakers surrounding them, snarling softly like a pack of feral dogs. Knowing that Baker was somewhere in the crowd, and that most of the would-be attackers were shit-faced, Annika swallowed her fear and faced the ringleaders with a practiced nonchalance.

“That won’t be necessary, guys. I just wanted to introduce myself. Make your acquaintance.”

Mick growled, “Don’t think for a minute, bitch that we don’t know who you are. Nope, Loo-ten-ent Ah-nee-ka Neel-son, you’re a favorite of ours. We got a whole chat room devoted to you. You should see what photoshop can do to that bitchin’ body of yours, blondie. We got pictures of you gittin’ it on with five to ten guys at a time. Your momma would be scandalized and your daddy would be reachin’ for his shotgun.”

Annika leveled him an icy smile.

“Guess it’s lucky for you that I have neither a mother nor a father. And
boys,
I don’t scandalize easy.”

“Unluckily for you gentlemen,
I do
. As does my partner. And I’m
scandalized
that you ignorant-assed cowards would not only insult an officer of the law but one of
my
officers.”

Annika turned and was more than a little relieved to see Nate and Sam striding through the crowd toward her, their still-running squad car angled haphazardly at the curb. No doubt, they’d seen the crowd and heard the exchange. Annika didn’t know who looked more fierce, Nate or Sam. But if she was forced to choose, it would be Sam. Accustomed to his quiet, distinguished demeanor she saw for the first time the fabled special operative that her internet research had uncovered. He looked downright scary.

Nate’s blazing eyes scanned the cowering group. In a voice as hard as it was dangerous, he said, “You got ten seconds to get your sorry asses as far away as you can run.”

As the wide-eyed wasters backed away, he added, “And boys? I see you within a hundred yards of this development or I ever hear you threaten one of my officers again, be they male or female, you can plan on spending the next three months at St. Cloud. From what I hear the ‘residents’ there enjoy eco-nuts as much as they do perverts who fuck little kids. And trust me, it won’t be ‘fry daddy’ those guys’ll be shoving up your ass. After a week or two, your own momma won’t recognize you. Now git!”

As the gang scattered like a flock of frightened mallards on opening day of hunting season, Nate turned toward Annika, his eyes narrowed and his mouth drawn in a hard thin line. To her surprise he looked past her, to Sgt. Baker who was standing off to the side.

Closing in on the white-faced officer, Nate growled, “You wanna tell me, Sergeant Baker, why you were standing twenty feet away from your fellow officer who was surrounded by a dozen fried crack-heads threatening to rape her?”

Baker went from white to red in a matter of seconds. Stepping back from Nate’s fierce glare, he stammered, “She… she seemed like she had it under control… If… they’d tried to hurt her, I woulda—”

“Would have what, Sergeant? Done your duty? Come to the aid of a fellow officer? Stepped up like a goddamn man? Called for back-up like any rookie would have known to do?”

Nate shook his head, his voice tight with strain.

“Get the hell into my squad.”

He whirled on Annika. “And you. You get in the one you and Baker came in. Sam’ll drive you back to the station. The four of us are going to have a conversation about what went down here.”

Annika managed to grab a shaky breath. Locking her arms across her chest, her hands clenched in tight fists, she glared back at Nate.

“I’m perfectly capable of driving myself, Detective. I don’t need a chauffeur….”

Nate’s face registered surprise for a split second then hardened ominously. His voice was dangerously calm.

“Lieutenant, that attitude of yours is getting on my last nerve. Now, do as I tell you. Get in that squad with Commander Carter and get the hell back to the station. Now.”

As Nate strode back to the curb muttering under his breath, Sgt. Baker scurried to catch up with him. Babbling like a squeaky-voiced teenager, he whined. “See, Nate. That’s what she’s like. You can’t tell her anything. She thinks she can do… She dismisses you like….”

His voice trailed off as Nate gunned the engine and peeled away from the curb.

Sam opened the passenger door of the other squad and jerked his head at Annika.
“Get in, Lieutenant.”

Annika stared straight ahead as they wove dangerously fast through the crowded mid- day streets. Her lips hurt from biting them. After a moment she hazarded a glance at Sam. His jaw was rigid, his eyes were hidden behind his shades, but the tension in his body was palpable from across the seat. It was hard to reconcile him with the man who three nights ago had requested that she call him Sam. She had a feeling it would be ‘Commander’ from here on out. After a few tense minutes, Annika broke the silence.

“It probably looked worse than it was. I had the situation under control. I know those guys –or at least guys like them. They’re all talk.”

Sam’s voice could have sliced through steel. “As Detective Stryker indicated, Lieutenant, we’ll discuss the situation back at the station.”

So much for calling him Sam. Annika turned her head to the window trying to hide her disappointment. She should have known better. First and foremost, Sam was a cop. When the chips were down, they retreated. Got as far away from emotion as they could get. Ultimately that’s who and what they were. Both she and Sam.

Nope. Never mess with a cop. She never had… and now it looked like she never would.

~~~

Sam wheeled the squad car around the corner with a noisy squeal of the tires. Roaring down the ramp into the parking garage he brought the car to a shuddering halt, the front fender inches away from the cement wall. He sat for a long moment his hands gripping the wheel. Even now his heart was pounding. He forced himself to take deep calming breaths to bring his heart rate down to its usual steady beat. In a lifetime, he didn’t know if he would forget those slimy miscreants moving in on Annika while that cowardly bastard Baker slunk back in the crowd. He hoped to God that Nate planned to fire the gutless sergeant, because it would be a shame to beat the crap out of a fellow officer.

He allowed himself to look over at Annika. She was pale and the strain on her face was understandable. Christ, she had to have been frightened. And if she was like any other adrenalin junkie he knew, she was coming down hard from the scare. Too bad he couldn’t deal with the testosterone dump he was feeling the way he wanted to. But if he couldn’t fuck her brains out, the least he could do was hold her.

She was out of the car and heading toward the exit by the time he reached her.

“Come here, you.”

Sam’s voice, more like a growl than a request, startled him. Annika stopped and looked back at him, clearly shocked.

Sam tried again, getting his voice within normal range.

“Come here, Princess.”

She stepped back and hesitated, frowning uncertainly.

Sam reached out and pulled her toward him, wrapping her in his arms. He heard her startled gasp and was gratified to feel her heart pounding against her chest. Hers was beating as rapidly as his. He held her trembling body tight up against him until he was sure that he could bear to let her go.

“Are you okay, Annika?”

She nodded and gave him a shaky smile.

“I think I am.”

He pulled her back into his arms and pressed her head against his shoulder.

“Dammit, baby, you scared the shit out of me. And I swear to God if Nate hadn’t dragged him back with him, I’m not sure how many pieces Baker would be in at this moment.”

Annika eased back surprise clear on her face.

“I… I don’t understand. I thought you were angry with me. Both you and Nate. That I’d let you down. Broken some kind of a rule.”

“Jesus, Annika. You faced down twelve drug-crazed men who were openly drooling at the thought of what they were going to do to you, and you didn’t so much as blink. God, I don’t know if you are the bravest woman I know or just a damned good cop or both. All I do know is that you scared the shit out of me and the only way I’m going to start breathing normally is to beat that cowardly piece of crap who was supposed to be your partner within an inch of his life. Damn, Annika. Even the greenest grunt in the Army knows you don’t stand back and let a dozen men advance on your partner.”